What the Hell Is Goin on

Paul Thorn (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Perpetual Obscurity
• ASIN: B007MJ9LNO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,676 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. What the Hell is Goin On

2. Shelter Me Lord

3. Wrong Number

4. Shed A Little Light

5. Walk In My Shadow

6. Don t Let Me Down

7. Snake Farm

8. Bull Mountain Bridge

9. Jukin

10. She s Got A Crush On Me

11. Small Town Talk

12. Take My Love With You

Editorial Reviews

What The Hell is Goin On? Is exactly the question that many fans of songwriter and Billboard-charting recording artist Paul Thorn will be asking when they hear he s releasing an album made up entirely of cover songs. Thorn has assembled a collection of mostly unheralded songs that felt to him like he could have written them. The result is a collection of diverse tunes-penned by a range of writers from Buddy Miller and Allen Toussaint to Lindsay Buckingham/Stevie Nicks. The album features Paul backed by his longtime touring band and includes contributions from Delbert McClinton and Elvin Bishop plus special guests the McCrary sisters. It builds on the breakout success of his last release, Pimps and Preachers, which garnered him his first placement on the Billboard Top 100 album chart.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A gourmet's selection of blues, country, soul and rock covers May 16, 2012

By hyperbolium

Format:Audio CD

Paul Thorn is a Mississippi bluesman whose earlier career as a boxer still echoes in his gruff growl. Though well-known for his original, biographical songs, Thorn's sixth album is an all-covers affair. Singing the songs of other writers is a complex task, one that reflects on Thorn's understanding of songwriting craft as well as his visceral experience as a listener. He poses this set as an opportunity to "take a break from myself," but his selections from others' pens say a great deal about his musical roots, influences and tastes. Most of his picks are sufficiently obscure to avoid even registering as covers for many listeners; but these are interpretations rather than explanations, and Thorn's fans will marvel at how easily he draws these songs into his personal orbit. This is a mix tape, but one in which the mixer sings the songs rather than having lined up other people's performances on a C90.

Thorn's voice has a clenched, raspy edge that variously brings to mind Dr. John, Jon Dee Graham, Willy DeVille, John Hyatt, Lyle Lovett, Randy Newman, Joe Cocker, Tom Waits and even a bit of Louis Armstrong. He doesn't sound like any one of them, but your ears will catch passing associations as he work through a wide-ranging catalog drawn from Ray Wylie Hubbard, Buddy Miller, Elvin Bishop, Allen Toussaint and others. Each recitation balances flavors from the original recordings with Thorn's own sound, retaining the signature rolling rhythm of Lindsey Buckingham's early "Don't let Me Down Again" while lowering its youthful freneticism, magnifying the blue side of Free's "Walk in My Shadow," and giving Muscle Shoals' legend Donnie Fritts' "She's Got a Crush on Me" the soul vocal it really deserves.

Thorn finds something interesting to say with each of these covers, zeroing in on the fright of Hubbard's "Snake Farm," lending a heavier church-vibe to Miller's "Shelter Me Lord," and giving Bishop space to play guitar on a tightened-up version of his own title track. One of the album's best tracks, "Bull Mountain Bridge," is also its one thematic cheat. Originally recorded as a demo called "The Hawk," the song was retitled (and shouldn't be confused with songwriter Wild Bill Emerson's "Bull Mountain Boy") and given, with Delbert McClinton pitching in on vocals, a superb southern rock treatment. Thorn compliments his songwriting peers by wishing he'd written these compositions, and pays his debt for their listening pleasure by sharing these songs with his own fans. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than most albums of originals...except Paul's... May 14, 2012

By P. Bradt

Format:Audio CD

...this is how you do it. Paul has taken an eclectic group of songs, from Paul Rodgers and Bad Company to Wild Bill Emerson to Elvin Bishop and made them his own. The band is whipcord sharp, the singing great as usual and between Delbert and the McCrary sisters (and Etta Britt).

I'm biased because I'm HUGE fan but these guys know how to rock and roll. Way to go guys, see you in August!

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Thorn; Singer, Songwriter, Philosopher. May 5, 2013

By Alan in SF

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Paul Thorn is a wonderful singer songwriter. his lyrics come from his life experience, and they also share the lessons he learned with the listener.
Musically the band is very together. The style is somewhere in the country-folk-rock genre.
If you get an opportunity, go see his live performances.